


Living in Hell:The Tales of a Half-Breed

by sdeubanks



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demons, Multi, Shaman - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:31:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7115545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sdeubanks/pseuds/sdeubanks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rosaline Dae is part human and part.... something else. She has grown up aware of a secret world, hidden and more than a little dangerous. Creatures that could never pass for human run big corporations, vampires work as business consultants, and witches run herbal remedy stores. Rosaline sees them all and wishes she didn't. All she wants is a normal like. A human life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The last war of Heaven and Hell had ended centuries before Rosaline Dae was conceived.

 

           Hell had gained control over the middle ground and had frozen it solid, stunting all natural life from growing. Hellions roamed free; demons, vampires, and lesser imps. The Guardians of Heaven began to feel nervous at the amount of power the Hellions were incurring, and asked their Lord to let them beat the Hellions back to the fire rimmed hells from which they came. Their Lord looked upon the middle ground and was saddened at its lack of life and gave his consent for the Guardians to restore life to the frozen land.

            On the way to deliver a message to one of the Guardian generals, a messenger angel was captured and killed, his message going into the hands of the Hellions. With their enemy aware of their plans, the Guardians had lost their advantage and a long and grueling war commenced. Both sides struggled to gain an upper hand until finally Heaven's Guardians wounded the Master of all Hellions and the war was ended.

            The Lord of the Heavens created a contract that bound the Hellions and their Master to a strict code of living. With the Hellions no longer in control, the middle ground thawed and life began anew. Every six centuries, the Hellions would gather and renew their allegiance to the contract. However as nature evolved into man, the Hellions found themselves given a new set of rules. They were to watch over this new being and if one of them sinned badly, the Hellions could have free reign over that human's punishment. The compromise pleased the Master of Hell and he was given a list of ten unforgivable sins as was the leader of man.

            And so began the reign of man over the middle earth. His progression through time saddened the beings of Heaven. Man conquered Nature; manipulated her and created false prophets in her name. They killed one another for power or wealth until whole groups lay wasted on the bloody earth. Man ignored the ten laws, and in doing so spurned Heaven and its beings. However, for every bad man, there was a good one and the Heavens continued to keep hope for mankind.

            Many wars of man had passed as history told and man seemed to have reached his limit for destruction, then World War II occurred. Genocide, executions, nuclear attacks; this was when Heaven turned away from man. With the Heavens no longer watching, beings of Hell began to infiltrate middle earth once again.


	2. Chapter 2

I’ve known about Hell since I was a little girl. My mother would tell me stories of how Heaven and Hell used to wage wars over the middle ground. Eventually Heaven won and the middle ground became Earth and it gave life to humans. In the beginning Heaven loved man and man loved Heaven back. But then man sinned and continued sinning until eventually Heaven turned away, unable to bear it any longer. That was when Hell seized its chance and began to infiltrate the middle ground. My mother explained that not all beings from Hell are inherently evil, the Master of all Hell himself is a fallen angel. At some point he was good. He chose to be bad. Free will can be a dangerous thing. Mother told me I must always be good and strive for Heaven even if Hell was singing my name.

            She killed herself when I was eight. Slit her wrists in the bathtub and was gone. She left a name and number for Child Service to call. It was an orphanage. My first night there I tried to run away. I knew that something wasn’t right there. That the other children and the guardians weren’t normal. My mother had homeschooled me up until her death, and she had kept me away from other children, so I never realized I was different. It took the guardians of the orphanage weeks to convince me I belonged there. In the end, all it took was showing me a group of normal, happy, human children and I understood. A part of me may be human, like my mother, but I wasn’t normal.

            Now I’m by no means a hideous creature, let me get that straight. As a matter of fact I pass for human most of the time. The main problem is my eyes. They’re gold. Like luminescent, eerie, supernatural gold. They are large and just a little slanted from my mother’s Korean blood. My skin is light tan, my hair long, thick, and ink black that sometimes goes blue in the sun. My ears are slightly pointed, but not enough to cause alarm, and my canines share the same attributes as my ears. Little sharper/longer, but hardly enough to notice. The guardians at the orphanage informed me that my mother had bedded a Demon, and a fairly powerful one at that for so much of his lineage to show through. His looks were not all I inherited though. I can sense people. Not well enough to read thoughts, but if they are feeling strongly one way or another, I can feel it. I can also feel other supernatural beings. This is more of a survival instinct than anything. Most any supernatural creature can sense another, it is as common as the last name Smith.

            Once I realized I wasn’t human, I began to resent it. I didn’t want to be some half-breed freak, I wanted to be normal. I shunned the other children’s company and became a recluse within my room. I’d come out only for meals and schoolwork. For ten years, I avoided as much contact with anyone supernatural as possible. It wasn’t too hard, the guardians at the orphanage weren’t exactly caring people, they just had the shit job of taking care of orphaned supes so the rest of the world wouldn’t find out we exist.

            Before you leave the orphanage, a full-fledged supernatural, a demon, a vampire, or shaman, reads you to know where you will be best placed in society. They take some of your blood, assess your abilities or powers, and place you accordingly. I had no desire to be scrutinized by some Hell spawn, so I ran away from the orphanage the night before I was supposed to leave. I got a job as an overnight stocker at a grocery store and started taking classes at a community college. I bought colored contacts with my first paycheck and suddenly I was a gray eyed half Korean girl in college, quiet and shy. Those were the best years of my life.


	3. Chapter 3

I graduated college with an associate’s degree in paralegal studies. I could have stayed for a four year, but I was ready for a change. My degree meant I could be a lower level assistant, a lawyer’s secretary, or a pencil pusher at a law firm. I started working at Lee, Harvey, and Harvey three years ago as an intern. I had temped a few places as a stand in paralegal for two years out of college, but nothing stuck. LH&H is a pretty big law firm in downtown Seattle. They handle high profile white collar legal proceedings and my internship had been a stroke of luck. Their first and second pick had been scooped up by a rival law firm so they had settled with me and I like to think they were pleased with the outcome. That first year I was a 22 year old nobody doing nothing but grunt work. Filing, making coffee, more filing, shadowing the important people to be sure they didn’t need anything. I was efficient and a perfect shadow and after that first year they decided to hire me as a temp, to see how I handled more responsibility.

I met Harry Monroe my second year here. He is a mid-level lawyer on the tenth floor with an easy nature and sharp eyes. Harry had been brought in to supervise the lower level lawyers I shadowed on a case that proved to be pretty important to the company in the long run. Occasionally it would be just Harry and I late into the evening once the other lawyers left. I usually worked late to clean up their mess and organize their notes and papers. Harry was just a workaholic. After two months of politely ignoring each other Harry finally asked me my name and asked to see my notes. I told him my name and handed over the list of to dos for the next day organized by importance. Harry looked it over carefully then handed it back. A week later he asked me to be his personal assistant. I had been wary. Harry was attractive for a full blooded human. Sandy blonde hair cut neatly, light brown eyes, a fairly fit body. But I had no desire to be someone’s secretary and told him as much. He just laughed and explained I’d basically being doing what I was already, but for better money, higher stake cases, and benefits. I agreed right away. I was 24, uninsured, and nearly broke.

            After working for Harry for a year and a half, I have our routine down pat. His previous assistant had filled a more secretarial role and had gotten knocked up and married. Harry worked without an assistant for about four months before he offered me the job. Despite that his work was neatly filed and organized, even if his handwriting was chicken scratch. We’ve grown pretty accustomed to one another and he is a great boss. He works long hours but doesn’t expect me to, which of course makes me want to. He lets me have major holidays and my birthday off, as well as vacations as long as I clear them months ahead of time. I’ve never taken a vacation, but is nice to know I can. Harry mainly handles martial and civil lawsuits, with the occasional embezzlement case thrown in for spice. He talks to his clients while I take notes in the background. He uses both mine and his own notes to work off of and then gives me his work at the end of every day to type up and organize. Harry is a very careful lawyer. He relies heavily on research and precedent, sometimes using the law against itself. I prefer his approach to the bull headed attacks some prosecutors take. Harry’s way is generally more effective quicker, and his win and retention rate of clients is pretty high.

 

I’ve been working dutifully at my desks copying notes and wondering how long it would be until the upper floors noticed Harry when the elevator slides open behind me and to the right. My brain zeros in on the being walking out of it before I can even register why I suddenly feel uneasy. Each type of supernatural creature has a different feel about them. For example, the hum coming from a werewolf’s body is different than that of a half demon. The buzz from this being was definitely vampire. Vampires are a subset of demons that evolved with a sensitivity to sunlight and a need of blood as a food source. Demons enjoy blood, they can be pretty vicious, but they can eat human food if necessary. I suppose that means Vampires are potentially more savage than regular Demons, but I don’t really have a frame of reference. I’ve encountered other Supes in my day to day life, but I never aknowledge them or even let on that I can sense them. After living with humans for six years, I’ve gotten pretty good at shielding myself from their feelings. This talent has rolled over into my Supe life, helping me keep a low profile from other Supernatural beings.

As the vampire comes closer I have to force myself to concentrate on my work and stop my mind from reading him as a fight or flight mechanic. Even keeping to myself I know the second he smells or senses me. His entire aura alights with curiosity. As he walks by me he inhales deeply and I tense. There is no way for me to mask my otherness from another Supes, we always recognize each other, but I can at least protect me mind from the ones like me. The vampire doesn’t even pause, he just keeps walking and goes right into Harry’s office. I sneak a peek after the door closes to see the vampire is in an expensive looking suit and brown leather shoes. His back is to me but I can see he has tawny colored hair, maybe a tad too long to be considered professional, but it is tousled and styled just so. Harry is pleased and a little nervous to be talking to the vampire. He doesn’t know what he is, just that he represents the upper floors. I see him gesture to me and the vampire turns, his hazel green eyes locking with mine. I can feel him brush against my mind and I clamp down on my defenses, shoving him away with a panic. My mental guard is pretty strong after 26 years and I see the vampire’s eyes widen almost unperceptively in surprise before he turns back to Harry and continues talking. Shit. I didn’t mean to do that. Now he’ll be even more interested. I hunch my shoulders and force myself to get back to work.

A half hour later he leaves, but I’m not at my desk, I’m instead hiding in the breakroom like a coward. I don’t fear that he will hurt me, but I want nothing to do with the vampire. I can see him sniff the air near my desk and he has no doubt what I am as I watch his lips curl up into a small smile as he walks away. Once the elevator doors have closed behind him I make my way back. Harry’s barely contained excitement and pride emanate from his office and he comes to the door to usher me inside. He shuts the door behind us and takes a deep breath,

“I’ve been asked up to the fifteenth floor to help advise on a case.”

“What’s the case?”

“Embezzlement, a big one. The plaintiff is a former client of mine, Buzz Dietrich. He owns a few thousand acres of farm and forest land that he sells to the government. Apparently one of his partners wasn’t feeling appreciated enough.”

I remember Buzz, he is an ex-military no nonsense guy who had fought tooth and nail to get custody of his third wife’s children after she had cheated and left him. They weren’t even his kids, but he had raised then for nearly ten years, and felt he could provide them a better life. Harry had won that one. It is a smart move to bring him in on the case. Buzz likes Harry, and Harry already knows all there was to know about Buzz. I congratulate my boss with a genuine smile. He deserves it. Harry is only in his mid-thirties, but a promotion is about five years overdue for the amount of revenue and clients he brings in. Even though it is only three, Harry tells me to take off early and says he will be doing the same. He feels that we need the extra time at home to relax and get geared up for the next day. I know he’s nervous so I place my hand on his arm, careful not to touch his skin,

“You’re gonna knock ‘em dead boss.”


	4. Chapter 4

The next day Harry and I board the elevator to go up to the fifteenth floor to play with the high rollers. The conference room is huge with an entire wall of windows that showcase downtown Seattle. It’s rainy, like it always is, so I’m not very surprised to see the vampire sitting towards the head of table, writing something on a notepad. He is the only other supernatural in the room thank god. I’m not sure I could handle guarding myself against more than one. I take a seat along the back wall with two other assistants and do my absolute best to pay attention to the meeting so that I can make Harry proud.

An hour in I feel someone brush against my mind in gentle curiosity. I look up to see the vampire is watching the first chair lawyer. I scowl and go back to my notes. The brush happens again and when I look up this time, the vampire’s hazel eyes are on me. I resist the urge to bare my teeth at him in anger. His eyes narrow in a challenge at the anger rolling off of me but I just look away and throw up my mental guard, using a good bit of my focus to keep it strong and impenetrable.

By the end of the meeting I am exhausted. The vampire murmurs something in the first chair’s ear and I see him nod and suddenly Harry is whisked away by the other three lawyers for a late lunch. The vampire gives one look at the assistants and they scurry away. I try to follow them, but he blocks the door. I am not a small woman. I’m nearly 5’10 and just curvy enough to be appealing in tight clothes without looking lewd. The vampire is only two inches taller than me and of average build. If he was human I could take him easily. As it is, I know full and well he is much stronger than I am, so I back away from him to but a safer distance between us. He just stares at me. After a minute I take the chance to do the same. Since he already knows what I am I give the air an experimental sniff and lower my mind’s guards a little.

He’s bitten, not born. Born vampires give off a certain…well distain when you’re around them. I’ve only seen one in my life, at the orphanage, and I hadn’t been impressed. Bitten vampires have the tiniest whiff of human that lets you know they are less than their full blooded brethren. They are still quite powerful, with long lives and much strength, but they die after about five hundred years, and they are no match against a full blooded vampire in a fight. They do however have a much more varying degree of abilities. Most full clouded vampire families carry the same powers from parents to offspring. So whole families may be adept at hypnosis, while others are excellent flyers or magic detectors. Since humans have so much variation in blood, bitten vampires tend to show different abilities. Sometimes they even have multiple abilities like tracking, flying, and telepathy. I’ve learned all of this from books by the way. That was my actual schooling at the orphanage. We learned about different Supes and how they lived. This is the first bitten vampire I’ve ever met, and I find myself wondering what he can do. I chastise myself quickly though. I shouldn’t want to know, I want nothing to do with that life. The orphanage may have taught me all about the Supernatural world, but I have no desire to put their teachings to the test.

The vampire regards me coolly, his face absolutely unreadable. His emotions too are in check, so I’m flying blind. It is a very odd feeling.

“The employment records here didn’t mention a half-breed on the tenth floor.”

His voice is as cool as his face, his tone matter of fact. I clench my jaw at his derogatory term for my bloodlines.

“Why would they?”

I’m a little curt, but given the situation, I think it is understandable. The vampire gives me a lazy smile, his eyelids lowering,

“Because this is a Supernaturally owned law firm. They handle both human and Supernatural cases. They like to regulate the type of workers they have here. You, Miss Dae, were not on their roster of Supernatural employees.”

Looking at him now, I realize how young he must have been when he was bitten. 20 maybe 21 at the most. Not that I would ever mistake him for a kid, his eyes are eerily old and knowing.

“Is there a problem with my work?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“Then I don’t see why it is such an issue.”

I’m being particularly obtuse and he knows it, but he decides to play along anyway,

“Well Miss Dae, they tend to keep most of the Supernatuals on the other side of the fence if you catch me meaning. Less chance of an accident there. Now they do let a few over on this side every once in a while. Ones that pass for human, like you, but that is a very carefully thought out process and here you are working diligently right under their noses. I find it rather amusing.”

Sure enough amusement was radiating off of him and a little pride. He likes that I snuck in under the radar. Is proud of me. It is a little disconcerting.

“Well I apologize. I didn’t realize who owned this company or I would have never applied.”

A slight rise of his eyebrows, “You’re attempting to live as human. Completely?”

I nod, “I’ve been doing it successfully for nearly eight years.”

He looks astounded, “How? Your scent is powerful. You are powerful in your own right.”

I gesture to my hair and face, “I am very good at hiding.” I have no idea why I am telling him my secrets. It is probably going to come back and bite me in the ass. He’ll no doubt go back to whoever his boss is and tell them all about me. I watch his eyes narrow as he scans my face. He reaches for me but I take a step back,

“Please don’t.”

And his eyes are now just slits. I give him a tight smile and lift my hair from where is covers my ears and ley my lips pull back to reveal my teeth. The vampire nods,

“You style your hair and smile closed mouth then. Not bad.”

Now for the coup de gras. I carefully pull out my left contact and let it balance on my index finger. I blink a few times then meet the Vampire’s eyes. There is an almost imperceptible reaction, but it is there. My natural eye color is jarring. The Vampire just smiles ruefully and shakes his head,

“Well, well, you are quite the surprise. And here I just thought you were some little half-breed Demon piffle. I must say it is nice to be wrong.”

I put my contact back in and shrug,

You’re welcome I guess. Are you going to rat me out? I’d have to leave here. I’d like to know so I can make arrangements to find a replacement for Harry.”

The Vampire scoffs, “ _Harry._ ”

“He is a good man.”

“He is human.”

“Is that so terrible as to be condemned for it?”

The Vampire doesn’t reply. I don’t want to be in this room anymore.

“Excuse me, I’d like to leave.”

He steps to the side, hazel eyes on my face, “You’re wasted here Miss Dae.”

I just walk past him and down the hallway to the elevator. I feel strung out. My head is pounding and my muscles ache. I’ve been holding my guard up too hard I realize. I let out a breath I don’t realize I’m holding when the elevator doors close between me and the fifteenth floor.


	5. Chapter 5

A lot of people mistakenly think that court cases move quickly. Shows like Law and Order and CSI make it seem like a crime happens, it goes to court, and is dealt with within two weeks at most. I wish things went this fast. Parking tickets take weeks to get processed and set for court. Large cases take months with both parties in a weird limbo until it happens. Once in court it can take days or weeks to reach a verdict depending on witnesses, the judge, and the jury if there is one. The type of cases Harry does, there is no jury. It’s just the judge, the two lawyers, the two people employing the lawyers, the bailiff, lawyer assistants and maybe one or two witnesses. Harry has never had a full courtroom. The embezzlement case on the fifteenth floor takes precedent over Harry’s other cases. I hand off the more important ones, decline the lesser ones, and make it clear to everyone that he is to be left alone. Harry works himself to the ground for weeks. We stay late each night as he dictates his notes to me, needing someone to bounce ideas off of. I don’t mind. There is nothing for me at home except my bed and the TV. I don’t even have a plant. A month into the case Harry calls me into his office and asks me to sit the chair across from him.

“Rosaline I want to ask you something.”

“Sure Mr. Monroe.” I only call him Harry after hours, as torrid as that sounds. I want to be seen as professional.

Harry fidgets and I know something is up. I lower my mental guard and grimace at the uncertainty, betrayal, and slight hint of fear coming off of him.

“Are you happy here?”

“Sir?”

“Do you like your job?”

I nod.

“Have you been looking for work elsewhere?”

“No Mr. Monroe.”

He nods, “Okay.”

The betrayal coming off of him lessens into mistrust, but not of me.

“Mr. Monroe, what’s going on.”

“Do you remember Mr. Crane? The gentleman who came down to tell me about the case?”

He meant the Vampire, “I didn’t know his name.” More mistrust radiating off of him.

“His name is Elias Crane. He is a consultant outside of the firm. He evaluates cases for companies to see if they are worth taking on.”

I nod. I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that the Vampire could at least sense people like me, but it looks more likely he is an actual telepath. I repress a shudder.

“Well Rosaline, Mr. Crane has expressed an interest on hiring you as his personal assistant for the summer. He has a summit he is organizing and needs someone to support him behind the scenes.”

My mouth drops open in astonishment, “What?!” I squawk and Harry seems relieved, “I’ve only met him twice and he wants to hire me?”

The Vampire, Mr. Crane has been blissfully absent the last few weeks and I had thought I’d gotten rid of him for good.

“It seems that he was impressed by your work. He pulled up some of my old cases and thought the attention to detail was excellent. I agree with him of course. It’s why I wanted to hire you in the first place.” He leans forward, “You are very talented Rosaline. You’re smart and hardworking. You’re ridiculously efficient and an excellent assistant. But…”

“But?”

Harry scowls, “Mr. Crane has pointed out that here you are basically a secretary with limited room to grow. If you chose to go back to school for a law degree I’d support you, you know that, but you don’t seem to want that. He is right really. I can’t offer you more than what you have. Maybe if this case goes well, they’ll promote me to a junior lawyer and I’d take you with me, but this…what you do now, is all you will ever do.”

I stare at him, “And what is so wrong with what I do now Harry?” He flinches, “This isn’t exactly menial labor. I’m not just answering phones and filing. I’m responsible for a lot of sensitive material. I help you win your cases.”

“I know you do!”

“Then why do you sound like you want me to leave?”

“Because when I tell you how much he is willing to pay you you’ll want to leave anyway!”

 

Harry’s face is red and shame rolls off of him like a thick fog. I cross my arms and wait. He sighs, “You would leave in two weeks for the Bahamas. It is some kind of huge business retreat where they work all day and relax all night. It’s the kind of thing you hear about in movies. It begins a few weeks after you get there and lasts a month. So June through July and you’d be expected to stay two weeks after to make sure all the paperwork is settled. So you’d be gone May to August. Three months, $30,000.”

I blink then swallow hard, “What?”

“Thirty thousand for three months. You barely make more than that in a year here.”

He’s right. I make $32,000 a year and life fairly comfortably in a small loft apartment a half hour from work. I make roughly $2,700 a month and half of that goes to rent and bills. I have a small savings and a few thousand in my checking account left over from working two jobs through college and after until I landed this job and moved into my own place. Having roommates had been awful. I’m not living large, but I’m comfortable. Thirty thousand is ridiculous.

“It sounds too good to be true,” I murmur and Harry shrugs,

“He said you’d have a lot of responsibility and that everything has to go off without a hitch. Apparently the clientele can be difficult.”

I suddenly know what summit he means. The bottom drops out of my stomach and I feel faint. Supernaturals don’t have a president like humans. They work partly through a hierarchy/caste system that is woefully outdated. The United States is broken up into six quadrants: North East, South East, Northern Midwest, Southern Midwest, North West, and South West. Every ten years one quadrant meets to basically hash out anything from wrongful deaths, marriages, regular deaths, takeovers, whatever grievance they’ve had for the past few decades. Sixty years pass between a quadrants meetings, and a lot can happen in sixty years. Anything major is dealt with immediately unless it is a Summit Year. At the summit, a predetermined committee presides over all of the hubbub and decides what to do.

I’ve never hated how much I retained from my orphanage days as much as I do now. Mr. Crane will definitely need an assistant, more like twelve if he thinks he can pull off a summit without any issues. Crazy bastard. Everything I was taught about summits showed me that when you get a large group of Supernaturals together, something always goes wrong. Humans die, Supes die, hostile takeovers occur, entire families are assassinated. It never ends pretty. For centuries it’s always been the same thing and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be roped into this nonsense.

I pull myself out of my thoughts to realize Harry is waiting for me to answer him.

“I’ll go talk to Mr. Crane and explain that I’m not interested.”

The hopeful look on Harry’s face is heartbreaking.


	6. Chapter 6

I find the Vampire easily enough. Secretaries love to gossip. All it takes is his name and they tell me he is an oil baron tycoon’s son who inherited a hefty estate when his father died. He had been taught the business since infancy and had been quite successful in business ventures. So much so that companies hired him to look over their own ventures. The ladies also say that he is twenty-five, single, and maddeningly mysterious. One of the girls, the boldest of the three, offers to take me back to his temporary office. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know she is just going so he might notice her. I inwardly sigh. Everything they told me was false of course. No doubt Mr. Crane himself had started the rumors. I follow the girl and her bouncing, blonde ponytail to a surprisingly small and nondescript office. She knocks on the doorframe and the Vampire raises his head in acknowledgement, as if he hadn’t sensed us or heard us coming down the hall.

   “Ms. Dae is here to see you Mr. Crane,”

The girl’s voice is suddenly huskier, trying to make her mundane words sensual. It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes. The Vampire smiles and stands,

   “Thank you Jeanine.”

I actually hear her sigh in contentment. I step around her and shut the door in her enraptured face.

   “That wasn’t very nice,”

The Vampire is sitting again, a faint look of amusement on his face.

   “She would never have left if the door wasn’t shut. She thinks you’re dreamy. I doubt she’d be so enamored of you if she knew what you were.”

He smiles, “Oh I wouldn’t be too sure. That one has a particularly intriguing imagination.”

I bare my teeth at him in disgust but quickly cover them. In hell spawn presence for five minutes and already I’m reverting back to base ways. The Vampire just grins, letting his second set of canines tract down quickly,

   “Mine are bigger,” he teases and I scoff. Absolutely ridiculous. He snaps them up just as fast.

   “You know why I’m here.”

   “I assure you I don’t know to what I owe the distinctive pleasure that is your company.”

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly so I don’t throttle him, “You told Harry you wanted to hire me.”

   “Ah yes, that.” He pushes his chair back and opens a drawer, “I have some paperwork for you here. I-9s, W-4’s, that sort of thing. I also have some reading material for you to look over this weekend. You can call me if you have any questions.”

He holds out two manila envelopes, one considerably fuller than the other. When I don’t reach for them he sets them on the desk,

   “I see.”

   “Do you? Because I can’t fathom why you thought I would accept a job offer from a near stranger who happens to be a vampire.”

   “I was attempting to be helpful.”

   “How?”

He sits back in his chair and steeples his fingers, “Ms. Dae they will find you. Harry Monroe is up for promotion. They’ll smell you on him and hunt you down. I’m offering you a way out, a rather lucrative one.”

   “For the summer,”

   “Yes, just for the summer. I have no need of a personal assistant in my day to day. I handle it all quite well on my own. But I’m paying you well. You could live off of that while you find another job after. If all goes well at the summit, you could find another employer there.”

   “I don’t want to find another employer!” I explode and Mr. Crane’s lips go into a thin, straight line.

   “Whether you want to or not, you will have to.”

   “I won’t work for you.”

   “Because I’m a vampire.”

   “Yes,”

   “What a snob you are.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

He sits forward, “You heard me. You look down your nose at me because I’m Supernatural. Have you looked in the mirror lately Ms. Dae, you are aren’t exactly human.”

   “I’m half.”

He looks absolutely incredulous, “Half human? Who the devil told you that?”

   “What?”

I have the sense of having the rug pulled out beneath me.

   “You aren’t human. At all. Not one cell in your body is human.”

   “How?”

   “You don’t know who your parents are?”

I sit in the chair across from him hard, “I know my mother. She was human.”

   “Not quite. She looked human.”

   “So what? She was a shifter, a witch, a Were?”

   “She was Divine.”

I laugh, I can’t help it, “Bullshit.”

Mr. Crane raises an eyebrow, “It’s not so farfetched. There are lesser Divine beings just as there are lesser Demons. She may not have had wings, or any other discernable powers usually associated with the Divine, but you smell like one, even if it is mostly masked by your father’s blood.”

My knees buckle but I am saved from hitting the floor by a chair being thrust beneath me as I fall. Mr. Crane stands behind me, expression unreadable,

   “You honestly didn’t know. How fascinating.”

He walks back to the other side of his desk at a perceptible speed as I fight to control my tumultuous thoughts. My mother Divine, it seems so preposterous, so untrue and yet. My hand goes to my mouth, rubbing softly as I raise my eyes up to the Vampire sitting across from me, hazel eyes intent on my face.

   “If she was Nephilim, why wouldn’t she tell me?”

He purses his lips, “I can’t claim to know the mind of the Divine beings, but I have heard that being cut off from their brethren can cause acute agony of the soul.”

   “Of the soul…”

   “Yes, listlessness, confusion, depression.” He sits forward, “Basically it is like losing a loved one and a limb all at once, unbalancing to say the least.”

I sit back heavily in my chair and bite the knuckles of my hand swinging from anger to sadness and back again, trying to reconcile images of my mother and the new information Mr. Crane has given me. It fits, whether I want it to or not. She had always been troubled, sad. Taken to bouts of staring into the distance and refusing to eat for days. At the time it was normal, I hadn’t known any better as a young child. As I grew older after her suicide I just assumed she has had severe depression, and I guess she really had, just for different reasons. Mr. Crane’s hand shifts against the blotter on his desk and my eyes snap back to his face to see his head cocked a little to the side and I realize he is trying to read me.

   “Stop it,” I mutter and mentally push away his inquisitive advances. He blinks and sits back, eyes narrowing,

   “Who trained you?”

   “What?” My tone is annoyed and I can feel my lips pulling into a sneer, “No one taught me anything. I taught myself. I learned a long time ago not to trust Supes.”

Mr. Crane tsks and waves a dismissive hand,

   “Enough with the holier than though act Ms. Dae, it is rather tiresome and more than a touch hypocritical.”

I hiss and open to respond but he sits up straight, a warning in his eyes and I close my mouth with an audible snap.

   “You may not have a high opinion me Ms. Dae but you are wise fear me. I will overlook your behavior in light of the information you have just been given, but don’t ever mistake me for you equal. I am older and more powerful than you could ever hope to be and I would hope that you had enough self-preservation to at least pretend that you respect me from now on. Now, I would like for you to take this information on the Summit and get back to me about the job offer by tomorrow morning.”

I open my mouth in protest of the shortened time limit but he glares and I shut it again, fuming,

   “Should you choose to turn down my offer I will give you two weeks to settle your affairs and leave this place of business and ultimately this city. You will find that many of the owners of this company don’t take kindly to being lied to.”

I swallow and nod.

   “Excellent,” he pushes the manila envelopes the rest of the way across the desk and stands, putting a hand out, “So glad we could have this meeting.”

I follow suit slowly, eyes on his outstretched hand. I steel my mind forcefully but the second my skin touches his I know I’m laid bare. I’m frozen as he filters through my thoughts. Suddenly his grip on my tightens and he pulls against me while leaning forward, his voice low,

   “For all the distain you have for our kind, for all the hate and fear you feel, all the disgusting assumptions you make, I should wipe you clean. I should leave you a drooling mess on the floor.”

His eyes are bright with an unfathomable anger and I hear myself make an animalistic whine in the back of my throat in fear. His lips twist into a cruel smirk,

   “Pitiful creature that you are, I think I’ll allow you to live, if only to show you that not all of us are so terrible as you make us to be. We are capable of reason and fairness no matter what you think.”

He releases my hand and I jerk back with a gasp, heart pounding,

   “Until tomorrow Ms. Dae.”

I grab the envelopes with a shaking hand and back my way to the door, turning only when I’ve shut it between us. Shakily I walk to the elevator, ignoring the inquisitive looks of the secretaries around me. When the polished doors close, reflecting my ashen, sweaty face, I let out a little moan and sink to the floor in relief.


End file.
